More Summer Portraits

This Summer I've been getting into some more drawing. Here are some of my pictures:  

This one of Robbie is in Watercolour Pencils. Done live, two and a half hours.

This one of Clare is also done live - but in charcoal. She wanted it in black and white.

This was the first of two commissions I had over the Summer. It was commissioned by a friend of mine as a gift for his sister and her husband. I completed it in December (in time for Christmas!) and it is in watercolour pencils, from some photos. 

This is Eevee - a beloved pooch of a friend of mine. The artwork is also in watercolour pencils and done from photos. 

Five siblings: a portrait

 

In watercolour pencils, 2020. 

Summer portraits

Recently a friend of mine gave me a large box of watercolour pencils. And when I say large, I'm talking three layers deep with what feels like a more overwhelming array of colours than a photoshop colour-circle. I also, incidentally, happened to have a portrait commission for a dog that needed to be done, and so had a ready opportunity to use them.

Now, I have collected and used watercolour pencils for some time, but I have been loathe to use them for any illustration work as I have often felt I was able to more easily create a repeatable colour intensity by using watercolours overlaid with coloured pencils (helpful for drawing the same character over multiple pages). However, I think I will try to use them more, as I am quite pleased with how this project turned out, and I think in the process I have better learned how to use this medium.

This is Banjo. 

Something I have also had the joy of doing earlier this summer were some family portraits for friends. Below are two of them. Both of these are done in coloured pencils, and drawn in the  multicoloured style that I have been enjoying over the past few years.

And, should anyone be interested to see the progress shots of Banjo, here are some pics:

Family pets

Christmas has come and gone. And, as I have often done before, I took the opportunity to create some sketches as gifts for family members.

It is with fondness that the Nichols family remembers Cockie and Snowy. 

A portrait of Eugene

Last summer I received a commission to paint my family dentist.

In my experience, Dr Eugene Lee has been a very warm, smiley person, and I hoped to draw this out in the portrait.

Below are some process shots and then the finished artwork.

After the first sitting:

After the second sitting:

...and done! Eugene Lee, completed January 2019.

Profile portraits

Towards the end of November I took on the task of constructing some victorian-style profile portraits of friends for an event - the Create ministry's black tie dinner. Here are photos of some of the artworks.

Clandestine projects

This seems to be the year for secret art projects - I've had two people approach me with clandestine instructions, and while both have been carried through I will only speak of one project here. This is, of course, because it has now been revealed.

Introducing the new (temporary) acting principal of Moore Theological College... Colin Bales! At least until Mark Thompson returns from study-leave mid-2019.

Drawings at Moore, Term 1 2017

This year I've been doing occasional small portraits and other sketches in and around my classes at Moore. Towards the start of last term I cut up a lot of paper into A5 pieces for use in a women's chapel I was leading but not many got used, so I thought I'd just draw on them instead. Here are some of the sketches I've done.

Above: Some of the students (and a chaplain in the lowest sketch).

Below: a couple of lecturers.

Easter Fest Portraits

The day after the kids club comics making workshop (see previous post) the church we were involved with (Holy Trinity Kingsford) ran their Easter Fest. Dave the minister asked me to do some portrait sketching, which was quite fun! I enjoy drawing portraits, and at this event discovered that lots of people wanted family portraits, or portraits with their friends - more so than individual ones. Makes sense.

Here are some I did:

Above are Jess and Grace, two girls on our team who I drew first. Their portraits became my 'samples' to give others two colour options.

These two photos were mother-daughter portraits - both girls had been in my comics making workshop the day before. 

A couple of friends - Sandra and Susan.

The largest family I drew that day! So lovely. I got them all to sit together first, sketched the outline of their heads and then drew facial details one person at a time so the others could take a break - a necessary technique with small children!

Sketches of people

Here are some sketches I've been doing over the last couple of months. Just casually, for fun.

Painting Patricia: process shots

A freshly stretched and primed canvas.

Underpainting with a colour complimentary to her skin tones, using sketches from our first sitting and some photographs I took.

I wanted to have a warm red glow under the white background with potentially some shadows.

Using acrylics and binder medium to spread the paint thinner while keeping a slight glossiness. Normally I paint with oils so this was a fun experiment. I used both palette knives and brushes.

This was after our second sitting, where Patricia sat in my lounge room and smiled for over an hour. After painting her head and neck/shoulders while she was with me I then finished the rest of the painting using photos I'd taken as reference material.

...And done!